OUTBREAK: ZERO is a semi post-apocalyptic pandemic roleplay set in the fictional city of Lethford, USA. Current season: Winter, 20/21.
March 2020. The world is in pandemonium as one month ago, GHNv-20 was confirmed, five months after the beginning of norovirus season. The number of the infected are in the higher hundred thousands, and the death toll is at an estimated 250,000, with about seventy percent of the rest of the population experiencing mild to moderate illnesses connected to the S. pyogenes bacteria.
The fear of the unknown has caused mass hysteria and panic.
In an attempt to provide a semblance of safety and control, military personnel patrol the streets, even here in Lethford City, and the police force is trying to keep up with the rising street violence, assault, and theft.
Welcome to OUTBREAK: zero. Will you survive?
HAYANA
SITE OWNER + HEAD ADMINISTRATOR
Hi! I'm Haya. I'm pretty much your girl for everything! If you have any questions regarding our plot, membergroups, etc. don't hesitate to ask me. I'm also in charge of coding, graphics, anything skin related, and advertising/affiliates.
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CODING
GRAPHICS
ADVERTISING
CHARACTERS
ADDI
ADMINISTRATOR
Hey! I'm Addi. Hit me up if you need help with anything. I'm always for plotting so don't be shy. I like coffee, booze, and working out. I'm back from a long hiatus the dead so if you need anything, best ask the others until I get back into the groove of things!
GENERAL INQUIRIES
APPLICATIONS
THREAD MODERATION
MEDIATOR
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FINNLEY
GLOBAL MODERATOR
Hi hello! My name is Finnley, or Finn, call whichever and I'll be there for you (yes like the FRIENDS theme song). I am in charge of the claims and helping with miscellaneous things. Let me know if you have any questions!
GENERAL INQUIRIES
CLAIMS
DIRECTORY
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STAFF NAME
OPEN MODERATOR POSITION
outbreak
/ˈaʊtbreɪk/ zero /ˈzɪərəʊ/
a sudden occurrence of something unwelcome, such as war or disease. number, no quantity or number; nought; the figure 0.
Arlo half expected him to say something when she entered his room. She didn't worry about him being confused on the fact it was her, but partially thought he'd ask her if she was okay. But he knew her. He knew that asking that, would probably not help at all. Somehow, like he always did, he knew exactly what to do for her. He didn't hesitate in holding her hand. He didn't pull away when her lips touched his shoulder. She swore she could hear his heart beating just as rapidly as hers, but instead of pulling away. Instead of asking her what she thought she was doing, he turned towards her and wrapped an arm around her. Her eyes closed as she immediately felt her body relax into him.
They had never shied away from one another. They would sit closely on the couch to watch movies, or Tiger King which he had forced her to watch. Which only prompted 'What the hell' a hundred times an episode from her. Their arms usually pressed together, shoulder to shoulder. She would even put her head on his shoulder sometimes. It was a comfortable action. Though she felt this was different. Here, in his bed, he was holding her without being overwhelming. But she needed to be overwhelmed. She wanted her senses overwhelmed by him. His scent, the clean sheets under them, his warmth. She immediately moved into him, pressing her smaller body to his until there wasn't an inch of space between them.
And overwhelmed she was. It was comforting. He was home to her. Forget the apartment, forget the station. All of that could go away, but here, with him? This was what home felt like. And she hadn't felt that way, ever. Not with her father, her aunt, not even Trinity. As she found herself lost in that place halfway between dreaming and reality, she swore she heard him say something. "I love you," It was his voice, but that couldn't have come from him. Her mind must be more exhausted than she thought. And if he had said it, she was sure it was the kind of love that she said to Trinity. You could love someone without being in love with them. Like the way she was in love with him.
How much time passed, she didn't know. But eventually a dream took over. One that was fast, lights and sirens moving. Her heart racing as a loud noise went off. And that noise silenced everything. She looked down at herself and saw red spreading from her stomach, down her hands. She awoke with a start, her body immediately flying up as she let out a small strangled noise as she gasped for air. Her whole form shaking as she realized she didn't know where she was. Her brown eyes scanned the room as she felt the body next to her move. "I-I'm okay, I... I just had a bad dream." She said, knowing that it was Jax beside her as she remembered crawling into his bed last night. She closed her eyes as she tried to still her heart that was desperately trying to escape her chest.
Arlo turned towards him, shifting them so they were laying back down and once again, pushed herself against his side. Just like he had done back in the station, she found herself pressing her full lips to his forehead. Lingering probably too long before she murmured softly to him. "I'm okay." and circling her nose to his. Before she rested her head on the pillow, her face still close to his.
Her hand landed on his chest as she settled back down next to him. She was wide awake, and probably wouldn't be falling back to sleep for a while. But that didn't mean he had to stay up with her. From the darkness still outside, it was late. And she was sure that he was exhausted. She was too, but her mind was too awake right now to settle back into a slumber. "You don't have to stay awake, marbles. And I'm sorry for invading your room. You just make me feel safe. And my room felt too far away. I won't make a habit of this, I promise." A small laugh left her, trying to joke and make light of the fact that she was pushing limits with her best friend.
"I've been cleared already, you just lay your head down, close your eyes, and we'll be home before you know it."
She didn't argue with him. Her eyes shutting as she tried to push out all the thoughts that rushed through her head, all the images that were threatening to cause tears to pour from her eyes. As calm and cool as she was listening to the distress calls that she did regularly, they never made her feel like this. Seeing those things, fighting for her life, it was completely different. She wasn't sure how long it even took for them to get home. Her eyes remained shut as she rested her head against the cool window. Jax got them home safely, which she didn't doubt. She never doubted him.
The realization that hit her at the station was the one that took over in her mind as she got out of the car and followed him into their apartment, her hand reaching out and grasping his. She watched him as if seeing him for the first time, full of color and all the details were sharp. His blonde hair, messy and falling across his forehead at times. Those marble eyes that drove her wild. She always loved looking into them, the uniqueness was what drew her to them. His height difference against her. The build of his shoulders and small of his waist. The way he walked and carried himself. It was almost all new, though so very familiar.
If anything had happened to him, she would have been distraught. She had fallen in love with him somewhere between drunk poker nights and leaving little cupcakes and goodies in his lunch. And the thought almost made her cry. Why did she not realize it? Why did it take seeing him come through that door to rescue her for her to realize it? And why him? It was cruel, he had been mourning his fiancee's death. Still was during certain times. She remembers ripping into the poor pizza restaurant owner for being ignorant to what could have happened. And now here she was, in love with him and... she could do nothing. That's the thought that brought a few tears out of her eyes as he opened the door to the apartment. She was glad that she had the moment to wipe them away before she shuffled in behind him.
She wasn't ready to face him, not just yet. What she wanted was to make good on that statement she made under her desk. "I'm going to go shower," She said, her hand squeezing his before she slowly pulled away. She slipped into the bathroom and turned the water on as hot as it would go and stripped down. The blood on her shirt had her panicking to get out of them faster. She kicked them behind the toilet where she couldn't see them before she got under the hot water. It burned her skin, but she didn't care. She wanted to rip off her first layer of skin. She wanted to scrub her skin raw to try and get the thoughts out, maybe if it felt like new skin then she'd feel better.
Arlo knew it wouldn't work, and she let herself sink to the floor of the shower and cry. Her knees wrapping to her chest and she let herself cry until she couldn't anymore. The water was cold by the time she scrubbed herself down for the third time and got out of the shower. She slipped into her room, and pulled on a tank top and pair of sweat pants. Her freckled face stared at her bed, and she couldn't find it in herself to get into it. Instead she found herself out her door and padding across barefoot to his bedroom door. Her hand hesitated above the closed door, but only for a few seconds before she knocked lightly in warning. Her hand twisting the knob as she entered the dark room and she shut the door behind her.
She was across the room and into his bed in seconds, not caring about anything except reaching out and finding him between the sheets. He was her comfort, and right now, she needed him. She'd deal with her feelings, her thoughts, everything else come the morning. And she could only hope he wouldn't ask her to leave. She shuffled closer to him and pressed a kiss to his shoulder as she settled in next to him. He had kissed her, why couldn't she do it back? She didn't wrap herself around him though, as much as she wanted to. At least not yet. Instead, she laid beside him and reached out to take his hand in the darkness before she drifted off to sleep.
Arlo works in dispatch (and is damn good at it), so she probably has conversed with him a few times over the walkie at some point. She had made a habit to not go over into the station and introduce herself to anyone, but she has been slowly working on it. Figured they might have a bit of fun banter over the walkie?
Tyler here works for the government as a translator. She's spoiled, and comes from a rich family. But sometimes she gets pulled to help out on cases so that way she can translate.
So Jasper here is a mechanic, but also a rebel. He normally hides other rebels away from authority until the coast is clear. Maybe Jack and Jasper have an awkward/tension filled interaction because Jack gets a feeling Jasper might be in on it?
Anyway! These are just some of my ideas lol feel free to add/toss out other ideas!
Her eyes immediately went into an eye roll and she let out a small groan. "Jax, I would give anything to not have to argue with these idiots on the phone about why I am not sending my boys in blue out to a gated community because there is a part of fifteen happening next door." Her curls bounced as she shook her head and looked up at him. "My favorite call to date? A man called the emergency line. As in, he dialed 9-1-1 thinking that I was going to send the Calvary out to the grocery store because someone in front of him removed their mask so they could take a drink of water from their bottle." She laughed at the memory, the laughter one of almost 'can you believe this?'. "He demanded that I send officers out to arrest the felon, FELON JAX." God she missed those days of answering a call from a regular because they were having a hard time reaching something up high.
"Did you ever get sent out to widow Harriette's house?" If he had, he would certainly remember this woman. "She was the one who would press her life alert 'accidentally' to have attractive cops and firefighters show up to check on her. Or fake having issues if it was the paramedics who showed up? She called me one day and I quote, 'I have nothing better to do, and I have good insurance for a reason. And money!'." She laughed, her hand over her heart as she thought of the older woman. She hoped she was doing okay. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't heard from her in a while. Hopefully she just slowed her calls because she was smart and knew they were insanely busy ever since this sickness started spreading its way quickly through their city.
Arlo sometimes forgot he was part of SWAT, and not a regular officer. Even though he carried himself differently. She wasn’t sure she could ever put it into words if someone asked her to explain it. The best she could do was that he had this air of confidence that didn’t touch cocky or aggressive. He was straight forward but willing to listen and had a wicked sense of humor. He kept her on her toes without ever making her feel like he was over stepping, and that was from the few times they had conversed over the radio and the short time now.
After she shared her favorite, she watched him with amused, curious eyes as he shared his favorite. Which ended with her trying to bite back a laugh and shaking her head before the drum roll even started. Literately. Which of course made her immediately crack a smile and start laughing. She had a feeling she already knew what was coming, simply because she had heard that so many times. And from when she talked to other firefighters, EMT’s, and police, they all had heard that comment at least once in their career. “I feel like we should be allowed to immediately arrest them for saying that.” She said with a small laugh.
She clicked her tongue as he said he would be doing the same thing, but not for the eye candy. “I’m going to call BS on that,” She flashed over a teasing grin with slightly narrowed eyes. “You are definitely going to be that old man looking for some eye candy to come to your ‘help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up’ call. Hopefully the good looking women are working EMS that day.” She joked. “I only hope I’m around to see that,” Arlo continued. He would be a blast, he was one now and that spirit of his wouldn’t be going anywhere. She loved it, she felt energized just being around him. But she did make a mental note to watch out when they lived together. She had a feeling she might be subject to some of the pranks he spoke about.
Her hand immediately shot out and swatted his arm, firm but not enough to actually cause pain. If anything, her fingers stung a bit from his firm arm. “Are you saying I am your peasant?!” She tried her best to fake a mad face, but had to slide it into a pout to for her lips to not turn up. She was not a dancer, at least she felt like she was clumsy and had two left feet. But maybe she’d give it a shot, for him. Even if she gave up quickly and found a spot along the wall to watch him dance his little heart out.
She was caught slightly off guard as his hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her to a stop. Her brown eyes turning to look up at him and she tilted her head a little at the sudden seriousness in his voice. “Ah, no. I just… I guess it never occurred to me to take one? I sit at a desk all day. And during the training for dispatch, well we were more focused on not panicking during calls and CPR than anything else.” She knew that they did recommend them taking a class for self defense and also a basics for firearms, but she had always been too busy. Arlo gave a light shrug. “Like I said, maybe you can give me a crash course.” She had a feeling he’d be a better teacher than someone else. Especially judging by how serious he had gotten on the subject.
Once seated and trying to put the who ordeal behind them, she took in the space that was around them. The window seat was a great choice and left it so they could gaze out and watch the street easily. And she might have noticed that he had a good line of vision to the door. Such a tactical way of thinking, even if he didn’t notice it. “Oof, five children. Bless his and his wife’s soul.” She said after she swallowed the larger than she should have taken bite. She took another bite and scrunched her nose up at his knowing, cocky look. Knowing that she truly was enjoying the pizza that he recommended. “I mean, big family sounds great. But five offspring? That’s… excessive.” She laughed. She had been the one and only of her kind, so she didn’t really have much family. She was quite jealous of those who did. Though pushing out five babies? Yikes.
She watched him light up like a kid on Christmas as he leaned towards her, telling his story. She enjoyed her slice of cheesy, meaty heaven as he went on, almost choking on a piece as he clapped his hands together for dramatic effect. Well it worked. She laughed as she cleared her throat. “How are you going to top that adventure in the second part of your shift?” She laughed, watching him stretch in his chair. He had boyishly good looks, and she felt herself smiling at him. “Are you always this cheerful?” She asked curiously, clearly not bothered by him being the way he was at all.
Arlo raised a dark eyebrow at him as he said he didn't consider himself charming. Giving him that 'yeah okay' look over her mask. At his mention of younger sisters, she could see how him seeing a woman on the side of road looking at her phone might seem like a call to him to help out. Though she did find slight humor behind the situation. "So you'd approve of one of your sisters getting into a strangers car to attempt to get home instead of waiting to see if the car service would send anyone her way?" Her brown eyes peered at him, curious as to see what his answer would be. Considering they were talking about it, there was always that chance that maybe he didn't see it from that perspective either.
"I feel like if I had an older brother, this would be the exact situation he would warn me against." She teased lightly. She was an only child, and without a mother either. So her advice growing up had been from her aunt, and her father. Which he wasn't such a great role model. Taught her what to not look for in a man, that was damn sure. As he spoke about his job, she toyed with a loose string on the bottom of her shirt. "Well if you have half the determination to find it as you do to helping out strangers, I'm sure you will come across something." She wasn't sure about sequences or anything like that, so she didn't even really know what to imagine what he would be looking at across a screen.
The drive went for a bit in silence, his speed steady and never taking a turn that suggested he wasn't taking her to the station. She constantly was looking for something that would put a hinder in the travel, a patrol car, military hummer, something. But thankfully they seemed to have luck on their side tonight. Eventually she felt the need to break the silence. "What exactly do you do at Prism BioTech?" She was genuinely curious. She had heard rumors about them after the outbreak, ones that were questionable and down right terrifying if they were true.
Her eyes immediately went into an eye roll and she let out a small groan. "Jax, I would give anything to not have to argue with these idiots on the phone about why I am not sending my boys in blue out to a gated community because there is a part of fifteen happening next door." Her curls bounced as she shook her head and looked up at him. "My favorite call to date? A man called the emergency line. As in, he dialed 9-1-1 thinking that I was going to send the Calvary out to the grocery store because someone in front of him removed their mask so they could take a drink of water from their bottle." She laughed at the memory, the laughter one of almost 'can you believe this?'. "He demanded that I send officers out to arrest the felon, FELON JAX." God she missed those days of answering a call from a regular because they were having a hard time reaching something up high.
"Did you ever get sent out to widow Harriette's house?" If he had, he would certainly remember this woman. "She was the one who would press her life alert 'accidentally' to have attractive cops and firefighters show up to check on her. Or fake having issues if it was the paramedics who showed up? She called me one day and I quote, 'I have nothing better to do, and I have good insurance for a reason. And money!'." She laughed, her hand over her heart as she thought of the older woman. She hoped she was doing okay. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't heard from her in a while. Hopefully she just slowed her calls because she was smart and knew they were insanely busy ever since this sickness started spreading its way quickly through their city.
After she bit out the 'jackass' to the, well, jackass that passed, she returned her eyes to him. He was looking at her with a grin and she tilted her head slightly, an amused smile on her face as her brows pulled together. "What's that look for?" She laughed lightly. She laughed as he said he could see himself playing her bodyguard. Arlo chuckled lightly and flashed him a wicked grin. "You'd be far too busy dancing your little butt off to even realize I needed you," she joked. Needed was perhaps not the right term, but she did have a bark that was bigger than her bite. She knew she could take a hit, she just didn't really know how to take care of herself in that sense. "Maybe I'll have you teach me some self defense," she mused lightly as the kept moving.
When they moved into the pizza parlor and the incident happened, she was on high alert. And she was glad that he seemed to listen to her gentle suggestion about finding them a table. Once he was out of ear shot, she turned slightly narrowed eyes on the owner. She dug through her wallet and produced a bill that more than covered their slices and a tip. This wasn't a chain place and she knew that small businesses were struggling, so she wanted to do her part. "This tip is for them" she said and nodded to the ones in the back making new pizza's. "The tip to you is that you should think before you speak. If he had been on a date, how awkward it would be now because of that comment. Instead, he had that slapped back into his face. Think before you speak." She repeated it twice, before she pushed the bill towards the register and grabbed the heated two slices from the glass top.
As she pulled up to the table, she slid his slice towards him before she settled in. She watched him a little intently at first. She didn't want to make it awkward but she was also trying to see exactly how he was handling coming back from the comment. As he asked about if she needed help, she gave a small roll of her shoulder for an answer as she reached for the cheese filled shaker. "I guess not a ton. I need to get myself a new bed, so I figured I'd order one and have it delivered to my new place. So really just a dresser, an abnormally heavy mirror, and just boxes of clothes. Which probably won't be a lot. The rest of stuff is Trinity's." She covered the meatlovers pizza in Parmesan cheese and then smiled at him. "If one of them has a good truck, then I'd cash in on that if its an offer."
Her small hand reached for the crust and folded it in half before she picked it up. "So," Arlo started as she nodded towards him, "Care to tell me about your sandbox adventure?" She grinned before she bit into her slice of.... oh heaven. She moaned again and nodded her head in approval. She didn't even comment before she dove in for a second bite.
"Benjamin Valentine," She repeated back to him, as if saying it would make it known that she was memorizing the name. Arlo wasn't stupid, not by any means, even if she was getting in the car of a total stranger. She felt like it was almost like straight out of a Ted Bundy documentary as a handsome face came along, being a gentleman and offering to bring her home. But there had to be good people out there right? She certainly hoped so. Her brown eyes stared at him, her breath warm inside her mask as she watched him slowly reach for an ID. He produced a license and ID for work, Prism BioTech. Satisfied with it, she shook her head as he offered it to her for further inspection.
Both seemed legit, and she already had the details of his car to her trusted contact so she slowly reached in and slid into the passenger seat. His question on why she would want to be dropped off there made her smile beneath her mask. "I work there. So it's not a bad choice." She said, her eyebrow quirking up lightly as she looked over to him. With a quick movement, she buckled her seatbelt and placed her back between her feet. "And no offense, but I don't just go around giving out my address to anyone. No matter how charming they seem." She said with a small laugh. She was trying to make a possible awkward situation a little bit less of that. "I really appreciate it." She said, as she settled in and looked over at him.
"Are you heading home from work?" Could explain why he was also out past curfew and feeling confident enough to stop and let in a stranger to his car. He could have an out for why he was breaking curfew. From what she knew about Prism, they were working on trying to find a cure for the current sickness going around. So he would definitely be an essential employee.
Arlo stared down at her phone. No cars in the area. Great, that was just great, she thought as she slide her phone back into her jean's back pocket. She still had boxes to pack, her move into the new apartment was something that was coming up and she wasn't even close to being ready to actually go. She had probably boxed up one box, and it was stuff that she believed that she was probably going to go drop off at the donation center anyway because she didn't even know she had those items anymore.
She was about to turn around and head back to cousins townhome when a car stopping near her caught her attention. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she turned slowly towards the voice, expecting a military vehicle to be the one beside her. But instead she was met with an average car with a not so average man talking to her from the drivers seat. She reached back and pulled her phone out of her pocket, as if to see if maybe the app had located a car and sent him her way, but as he spoke on, she knew that wasn't the case.
Normally, she would have laughed and ran away from such a request. It sounded like something from chapter one of 'how to get kidnapped 101'. But what she didn't want to do was go back to her cousins place, and she also didn't want to be picked up and arrested. How embarrassing to try and get let out of the police station where you worked? So she was a bit torn as he went on about an ID for her to be safe. Well that wasn't a bad idea. "Whats your name?" She called out, only taking two steps towards the vehicle before she stopped, getting a good look at his face as she waited for an answer. He was slipping a mask over his mouth and nose, a safety precaution. Just like the one she had over her face.
Brown eyes flickered down to her phone as she made probably a stupid decision. "I just need to be dropped off at the police station in town. I can get home from there." And with that she walked towards the back of his car, taking a picture of his license plate as she passed behind it. She sent off a text to her current roommate, letting her know that if she disappeared this was the vehicle she needed to put a BOLO on. She approached the passenger side window but didn't enter the car just yet. She reached back into her bag and produced her wallet, pulling her ID out and showing it to him so he would also know she wasn't a sketchy person trying to rob him. "Arlo Espinosa,"
Arlo immediately feigned hurt as he mentioned that he made a castle with a mote. "How could you? Without me? While I was stuck having to listen to Barb go on about her grandson's science project out of mentos and Pepsi?!" He seemed to have a good day. She might have peek to see where he was for the day, what he was attached to and she was glad to see he was sent to the field. She knew he had mentioned that it was his first day back after he had lost his fiancé, and she couldn't imagine having to try and fake normal while sitting at a desk on light duty. So when she saw his name attached to some SWAT in the field things, she eased up in a way.
As he fell into step with her she laughed lightly. He was excited, happy like a child who was walking up to the gates of Disney World for the first time and was trying to tell his parents about what he was most excited about. She gave him a light bump, arm to arm as he mentioned he was glad he had her a bit longer. She felt the same. He was a breath of fresh air she didn't realize she needed. "No crazy calls. It was actually quite slow this morning, but I know that just means we are going to have all the crazies later today." Thats how it always seemed to work. Either it started off crazy and never ended, or it was slow until the rush came and then it didn't settle down. Which mean that she would be stuck late at work trying to help get them over that hill of calls.
As they started in the crosswalk, she watched a man bump directly into Jax and didn't even blink back at him. "Jackass." She said, loud enough that the man could hear her as they kept walking. She rolled her eyes, curls bouncing with her step. "It sounds like he would have a miserable life. No one wants to love someone who doesn't care about anything or anyone." She remarked. Platonic or in a romantic way, there was nothing worse than someone who couldn't emotionally invest into something. Their walk wasn't a very long one, but that was quite alright because she could feel her stomach gearing up for a growl and she really didn't want to have it sing the song of its people to Jax. Not today.
"Always the gentleman," she teased as she walked into the door he held open. The smell washed over her and she almost moaned loudly. Well, she did moan, but it was thankfully only loud enough for Jax to hear her if he was paying attention. She approached the counter with Jax, a smile on her face as she looked over to the man that obviously knew Jax to some capacity. The smile faltered however as the mans eyes landed on her and the question slipped from his lips, asking who she was and where Emma was. She immediately looked at Jax, knowing that this wasn't a good thing. She held no pity in her look, only a look of concern. He recovered well, but he was different. And her chest tightened a bit. Part of her told her to reach out to him, to comfort him. But she didn't want him to take that as a move for pity or like she was pushing her boundaries. Instead she locked eyes with the man, her eyes narrowed slightly as if telling the man to keep his mouth shut.
"Whatever he usually gets and a meat lovers slice for me," She hoped Jax didn't take her assertiveness as rudeness, she just wanted to put distance between that moment of heart break and their time. She walked over to the register and looked back at the blonde with her. "Snag your favorite spot for us?" She wasn't letting him get away with paying this time. And she hoped he would go find a spot so she could maybe give the man a tongue lashing on how rude it was to ask a question like that, especially if he was assuming Jax was out on a date with a new girl. Way to make things awkward. Even though she was just a friend, it was too much. She felt protective over her friends and he was no exception. He had shoved his way through her walls and planted himself there.
Arlo felt slightly nervous while she waited for Jax to meet her. Though she read as calm on the outside. Standing inside the station made her feel uneasy. She made eye contact with the woman near the front several times, and after the third time she smiled nervously at the officer who offered a welcoming smile back. Though Alys went to looking at one of the missing people flyers that was posted in the front lobby. It actually was sad to see how many faces were up there. Some from years ago, some children, some adults. Some of them were really recent. Which made her mind wonder if they had died or fled or who knew what.
She glanced around again and was reminded why she didn’t like being there. It was because of all the times she thought about walking down to one. A police station, to ask for help. Either on her own or with Trinity even driving her to the front doors telling her to get out and go make a report. But she never could find it in herself to walk in. She just kept thinking back on all the stories she heard about how abusers got away with things all the time. And if she had walked in, what did that mean for her? Turned into a home? No way. She’d take the life she was given until she could change the course on her own.
Perhaps that was the reason that she never lingered, that she didn’t come make friends with the officers as her coworkers had done. Truly, Jax was the first one. And yet she had just befriended him this morning. She knew the voices, could probably pair most of the names to the voices alone. But as she looked around the area, with others moving about, she realized that she couldn’t name one of them. Maybe she needed to work on that. It would probably establish a better relationship with her and the station. Especially since she has been there for a bit.
Her dark head of curls turned as she heard the ding of the elevator and in came Jax. His smile was infectious as she found herself grinning back at him without even thinking about it. Her freckled face did a one over him as he brushed the dirt from himself. “Well I’d say so, go playing in some sandboxes?” She teased lightly as he got closer to her. Her hands went into her back pockets as she turned towards the front doors, not quite waiting for him as she made her strides towards the outdoors. “Starving. All I’ve thought about was this amazing pizza place you kept talking about.” She tossed a grin over her shoulder, it was true. She was hungry and ready to eat. “I got approved for a longer break if needed as well. So we don’t have to rush too much.” Though she was sure that he didn’t have the same leeway as she did.
“And I want to hear all about this,” She said, turning and brushing off some dirt from his shoulder.
After parting from Jackson, Arlo made her way quickly to the dispatch area of the department. The woman who were on duty flocked her as she made her way through the doors, wanting their coffees and throwing questions on why she was later than she had quoted them. She merely waved them on, telling them to just enjoy their coffee and let her get ready for her shift. She went to her locker, placed down her small bag and grabbed her comfortable cardigan in case the AC decided to kick into over drive, then made her way over to her station.
She smiled briefly as she got a text from Jackson so she'd have his number to save, and she quickly put him down as "Sir Jax" with a tiger emoji next to his name. She felt an easiness in her heart with him, he was simple to be around. It was like breathing, and Arlo didn't quite have those kind of friends in her life like so many other people seemed to have. Sure she had her high school best friend and about to be ex-roommate, but that was about it. Arlo had her aunt in her younger years until she gave up because of her father. Which meant Arlo was stuck having to deal with him herself. But Jax, he came in and easily just planted himself in her life. Even if he made it seem like he needed her, she felt like she needed him just as much.
After quickly adding him to her phone, she focused on the calls. Her eyes buzzing between the different screens and her fingers flying over the keyboard as she inserted information as it came flying at her. It was quite an uneventful first part of her shift, no big calls worth bragging over. The usuals calling for the most idiotic stuff, making her address them by their names before they had a chance to tell her who was calling. So when she kept glancing at the time, it seemed to be crawling by. When 2:45 hit, she made mention to the supervisor that she might take a slightly extended break, past the hour that was allowed. Since it was sort of a calm day, he agreed and just told her to be available in case he needed to pull her back via a phone call.
She left her cardigan at her desk and logged out, slipping her shoes back on before she headed into the station. Making her way to stop in and see Trinity to deliver the news of her probably moving out sooner than they had both expected. Trinity's blonde head snapped up with wide eyes as she told her about Jax and his offer. Which of course made Arlo laugh at his ridiculous she looked. Trinity immediately spewed out questions, about if she was sure, where would she be living, why she was choosing Jax as a roommate. With a quick glance at her phone, she realized it was 3 on the dot, so she promised to answer all of her extra questions once she was completely sure that she was moving in.
Arlo moved out to the front area where she last spotted the marbled eyed blondie walking away from her. And sent off a text to let him know that she was ready and would be waiting for him where they had agree. She really hoped that this was going to be it.
“There’s a bigger chance for you to be complaining about me. You know with all my free time I'm going to be hanging out in dispatch now.”
Arlo gave him a shake of her head, a small pull at the side of her mouth had a lopsided grin on her face. She didn’t have visitors. Trinity didn’t even really come over much, she was normally loaded with way too much work anyway. She had to admit that she liked the idea of his facing popping up over her computers to give her a much needed break from the screens in front of her. She knew it would probably not be very frequent but the idea was nice. “I’m sure the other ladies will be happy to have fresh meat to look at over there,” She teased. She was the youngest in dispatch, but those ladies killed her when it came to their personal chatter on men.
So she could only imagine the talk that would spew from them the moment he actually leaves. She almost groaned at the thought. Instead she tossed an obnoxious grin over her shoulder at him when he called her Beyonce. She was tempted to stick a tongue out at him, but then she reminded herself that she was not ten years old anymore. No, that girl was left long ago and did not need to make some appearance now, no matter how much she felt like a child at heart with Jax.
“Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go home and have a heart attack.”
Ah, so they were going to have a good time with movies and shows. Well that was a fleeting thought until he went into his whole talk about the Tiger King. So she gave him a small shove on the shoulder, one that probably really wouldn’t budge him much but was playful in nature. “The day our children are looking up to Joe Exotic as their inspiration is the day that I need the aliens to come and pull me home.” She said with her lips trying to hold back the smile. They were starting to hurt her cheeks, but damn it felt good. Jax was someone that was easy to be around. Was just easy to let go of your worries and just enjoy a damn good conversation with a good looking man.
Brown eyes rolled at his inquiries about being a knight and then she full on burst out laughing as he made mention of whacking people with swords. Her mind immediately went into the gutter which caused her to laugh, “Jax don’t go around just whacking anyone with that sword. You better be safe there or else you would be no good knight at all!” She was sure that he wasn’t there but she had to laugh. Sometimes talking to men over the radio was not all prim and proper. She had times of laughter with inappropriate comments that she would normally warn them of ‘I’ll give this recording to HR, just you be careful’. But they weren’t at work right know, and she had a feeling he might just call her nasty and keep going.
A mutual thank you. A ‘you are saving my rear’. She gave him a wide genuine grin that went to her eyes, she understood him. Though as she met his look, finally realizing his eyes were marbled in the most stunning of ways, she had a feeling he might have needed her more so than she needed him. But it didn’t take away any part of this blossoming friendship. He made his way up the front steps and she paused a moment before she followed him, giving him a small ‘thank you’ as he held the door open for her. She looked around the station, busy as normal with everyone moving about. She made sure to come in far enough that he would easily be able to follow behind her.
“So, I’ll text you when I am able to break from the calls and see if you are ready. Meet back here?” She motioned to the front of the station. This time she reached out to take hold of the other coffee orders that he had graciously carried for her to this point. She assumed he would hand it to her, unless he truly planned on walking her all the way to her desk.
Sleeping in shifts still sounded miserable. She knew what it was like to call the fire station and have them responding to her when they just got back from a call and had probably just settled into their cots. So she gave him a small frown as she thought about it, “Just don’t you complain to me when I have to wake you up for a call cause everyone else is busy.” It was a tease of kinds, being on SWAT meant he probably wasn’t going to get pulled too much, unless a lot of people called out or something huge happened.
Lunch sounded so far away now that they had made plans, and she reminded herself that she had a few snacks tucked away in her desk. Something she was sure she would munch on in between calls that came in. Arlo let out a bark of a laugh at his eyebrow wiggle, her head tossing back and her eyes close. She gave him a good eye roll as her head came back to watch where they were walking. “She’s not my keeper you know? I am an independent woman,” She said, puffing her chest out a little as if that would make her seem bigger than she was. “Besides, knowing Trinity, she’ll probably slap me on the ass and congratulate me,” she joked, laughing lightly at the thought.
At the mention of pulp fiction she got all wide eyed at him, “Say ‘what’ again. Say ‘what’ again, I dare ya. I double dare you,” she quoted at him, leaving off the curse that was accompanied by that quote for the sake of anyone else that would possibly appear and hear them. She flashed him a smile as she started up another one though, her eyes crinkling lightly at the corners, “If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions.” They were going to have a blast at home. Home, such a weird thing to not picture Trinity there. But she was strangely looking forward to this, with this guy who just seemed to fit into the missing little piece of her life at the moment.
She shushed him as he seemed to yell at the sky, thanking whatever he was thanking that would be looking down on them. “Oh my lord Jax, its just bad TV!” She laughed, poking him in the side. He was overly excited at the thought of this show and if she had the memes to judge it by, she had a feeling “what the hell” was going to leave her mouth a lot. “Calm down Nicolas Cage, national treasure? I hardly doubt that,” He reminded her of a kid who just got told that they were going to Disneyland for the first time. It was ridiculously cute and made her want to squish his cheeks in a way.
“I'm just kidding. Bears aren't anything to worry about. Now snakes...they're the real thing you need to be on the lookout for. Well, those and spiders of course.”
And cue Arlo hitting the breaks. If they were in a car, a loud screeching noise would have flooded the streets. “Woah woah woah there pal, lets go ahead and get something straight right now. This woman here does NOT, I repeat, NOT do spiders. Under any circumstances. So thats going to be a hard pass Sir Jax.” Yeah, she could handle bugs, snakes, lizards, anything of those sorts. But eight legs and too many eyes, hiding in corners and waiting to pounce on her? Yeah no thank you, pass.
She did smile, genuinely, at the idea of their place. Stocked full of food, hard cider, and laughter. It was going to be a nice change up from her childhood home. And even felt like somehow it would take up root as a warm place, even more so then the place she called her current home. They were within sight of the station now, her coffee officially empty with her last sip. “Thanks Jax, I… I really needed this. After everything with this pandemic and work, it’s been a bit depressing lately. So thank you.” Not to get all mushy or anything, but she meant it.
Tag: Jackson Etter | OOC: Whoops, got a little carried away.
“Yeah, we're 24 on, 24 off right now. I can take my lunch at three to take you over there though if that works for you?”
Arlo was downing the last bit of her coffee when she almost choked on it from his statement. Twenty four hour shifts. She felt bad for mentioning the twelve hours now, cause she’d be able to go home and try to get some sleep while he was possibly still doing patrol or other duties. She coughed a little into her elbow as she tried to clear her airway. “Remind me to not complain to you about hours,” She muttered as she shook her head of wild curls. She had pulled twenty four hour shift off a handful of times in the past, but she then slept for two days afterwards trying to recoup from them. She had a special pair of glasses for staring at the screens but they could only do so much.
“In fact, if you want to get some pizza first there's a great place about a block from the apartment.”
She gave him a small nod, “Yeah, I’d like that. Thanks.” Hell, pizza sounded way better than the food truck that made rounds at the department with the pre-made sandwiches and bags of chips. Brown eyes turned to look over at blue ones, “I’ll meet you in the department if you’d like? That way I can stop in and let Trinity know what’s going on.” It’d probably be easier for her to step away as she would just log off her call spot and go over than him to pause and find his way over to dispatch. Trinity was already at work and was supposed to be getting off around five and Arlo wanted to let her know in person that she might have a place to move into. Yeah that’d be a ‘we will talk more later’ conversation, but it wasn’t like that roommate of hers was going to convince her to stay. Best friends or not.
A smirk crossed her lips as he went on his little assuming game of the little mermaid. Oh he was the friend that was going to keep her on her toes. He was going to make her laugh to the point her sides hurt and she had to beg him stop. And she had a feeling he was also going to be the one who had her back, no matter what. Which was something that she hadn’t had in a while outside of Trinity. Trinity forced her way into the spot, Jax was slowly sliding his way in beside her, already. “If I am Ursula, you wouldn’t need to hide forks. What you need to do is make sure that you don’t go around singing, might just steal your voice.” Her smirk remaining as she walked. “Or don’t, find out the hard way.” She said with a teasing wink, a chuckle leaving her as she stepped over a curb back into the sidewalk.
At the mention of Tiger King she let out a long groan. “Trinity has been trying to get me to watch it,” she said, “I haven’t given in just yet.” She’s seen the meme’s of course, and all she can guess is some lady named Carol Baskin killed her husband, Joe Exotic gave meth and tigers to get married to two guys, and that 18 percent of people who lived in Oklahoma were idiots to think that guy could be a governor. She had a feeling that Jax was about to give her a ton of crap for not having watched it yet. But to be fair, she had better things to do for now. She hasn’t reached that point during the lockdown.
When she spoke about something way deeper than anything else they had, she watched him for a moment. Though he didn’t respond, she kept quiet. A single nod came from him, which prompted one of her own. A way to say ‘thanks for accepting it’. She was sure that she made things briefly awkward, but she wasn’t going to try and take it back, nor was she going to try and continue talking about it till he said something. That wasn’t like her, so she accepted his acceptance and moved forward, as did he. And he offered her a trip but not like the ones she would normally accept.
“Oh man, I'm taking you camping. That's happening. No way man. I'll have you catching fish, building a fire. You're gonna love it. Sleep under the stars, fend off bears, it's great.”
An exclamation of “What?!” left her mouth as soon as he said ‘that’s happening’. Her eyes wide over freckled cheeks at the thought of camping. She hadn’t done anything like that, ever. She was a young kid that tried the whole camping in the backyard thing, she lasted about thirty minutes until the neighbors dog started barking like crazy. Which made her think that there was a murder sneaking around and going to kill her, so she proceeded to scream her way back inside and never attempt it again. She stared at him with wide eyes, “Bears.” was all the came out of her mouth. “Jax, I am tiny, a bear would have me as a snack before moving onto the actual meal, you!” she said, her breath leaving her in a rush.
At the mention of the apocalypse she laughed, “You will do the hands on work, I’ll make sure we eat. It’ll work perfectly. And who knows, I could do long range shots if I train hard enough.” She’d have to learn that but it’d be something to help them out. “I have to say though, out of this apocalypse you are kind of getting the crap end of the stick.” She’d have to hope she was a fast learner if that happened so she could actually help him out.
“Nice. I like a good hard cider. Have you tried a lambic before? They're so good, they have a lot of fruit notes.”
She shook her head, “I haven’t tried them yet, but I’ve heard about them. I’m glad you can appreciate the wonderfulness of a hard cider. We will have to make sure we keep well stocked.” Because she liked having a drink or two after her shifts most the time. Not to get drunk or forget about things, most the time, but just enough to take the edge off. And he’d probably get to learn that about her if this whole roommate thing worked out. Which she was starting to feel more and more like it would.
